Most Powerful Women: EMEA

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More than half the members of our EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) list are heads of major companies, six are new­comers, and 10 are located in the U.K. One surprise: Nine of our MPWs—including No. 1 Ana Botín­ of ­Banco ­Santan­der—work in finance, a sector known for its dearth of women. See this year's other MPW lists:

Alison Cooper

CEO, Imperial Tobacco, 49

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Photograph by Simon Dawson—Bloomberg via Getty Images

The 49-year-old tobacco exec completed Imperial’s $7.1 billion acquisition of some of Reynolds American’s U.S. assets—a deal that landed the company brands such as Winston, Kool and Salem. Elsewhere, the world’s fourth largest cigarette seller, which raked in $22.7 billion in 2014, is consolidating brands—an effort to make its business, which operates in 160 countries more efficient. Smoking rates may be falling, but Imperial’s stock has risen 20% since September 2014. —Erika Fry